Bornean Families

Megophrys kobayashii

Kobayashi’s Horned Frog

Megophrys kobayashii is among the most impressive frogs of East Malaysia. It is known from Mt. Kinabalu and Crocker Range. It possibly inhablits the neighboring mountains of Sarawak and Kalimantan. It is a montane species that occurs in primary forest between 1200–1700 m asl.

This bulky frog is brown or grey above. It is easily recognized by its large size, big yellow eyes, big warts on flanks, and blunt snout. We are grateful to Kurt for contributing shots of a pretty specimen (watermarked).

Females and males appear to attain similar sizes of up to 100 mm, sometimes even beyond. It feeds on large insects and snails.

All species of the Genera Megophrys and Xenophrys have typical tadpoles that cannot be confused with any other tadpoles:

The mouth labia are enlarged and form a funnel. In resting position it is slightly folded and the corners point upwards. When the tadpoles swims up to the water surface, the funnel spreads out and is used as a structure that channels water with small particles (pollen, durst, bacteria) to the mouth. The small particles are filtered from the water in the gill chamber.

The tadpole of kobayashii has been reported to be similar to those of Xenophrysbaluensis (Malkmus et al. 2002). Reliable identification in the field is not possible at this point.